The Death Story
The Death Story (stylized as the DEATH story) is a Canadian television horror drama on ETV created by Colby Dorris. The series follows the daily obstacles of Eli Breasley, before his sudden death. Development of the series began in 2014 by Colby Dorris who then offered the show to ABC, Fox and NBC who all passed on the show in a two year time span. When Dorris finally decided to offer the series to ETV in mid-2016, they agreed to air the series with a pilot order. After casting Harry Nieves as the sole and lead regular cast member, ETV ordered a 10-episode first season.a On March 23, 2018, ETV announced that the series was renewed for a second season consisting of 13 episodes.a It was also reported that a "big number" of actors would join the starring cast. On April 20, 2019, ETV announced that the series was renewed for a third season consisting of 22 episodes; this being the first time the series receives a full-season order thanks to the successful second season.aaa On May 13, 2019, ETV announced that a special two-hour movie would precede the third season, which would air on September 27, 2017, prior to the January 2018 release of the third season.aaa This was later confirmed to be a replacement of having 22 episodes as Colby Dorris had told the network that "having such a long season was not in his plans."aaaa However, the exact amount of episodes was not specified, although it left the series' third season with a maximum episode count of 19. It was later confirmed that the third season would consist of 14 episodes, making the season use of 17 of 22 episodes. Premise The series follows Eli Breasley facing his daily obstacles before his sudden death, which leads to an "exciting twist of events."aa The ever-so-publicized "twist of events" was in effect starting from the third season of the series.a Cast and characters } |- | Greg Sorell | Bruce | colspan="1" | colspan="2" | colspan="1" |- !colspan="6"| Recurring cast |- | Louise Martens | Theresa | colspan="2" | colspan="1" | colspan="1" |- | Millie Mccurdy | Valorie | colspan="1" | colspan="2" | colspan="1" |- | Chantal Pinson | Lara | colspan="1" | colspan="3" |- |} : As only Nieves and Foust were credited as regulars, other actors' roles were determined by their screentime. 'Main' * Harry Nieves as Eli Breasleya 'Starring' * Liliana Foust as Rachela * Richie Loftin as Jerroda 'Recurring' * Greg Sorell as Brucea * Louise Martens as Theresaa Series overview Chapters'''aa * ''The World Chapter''a (24 episodes) ** Season 1 ** Season 2 ** Special film * ''The Beginnings''a (14 episodes) ** Season 3 * ''The Settlement''a ** Season 4 * ''The Endgame''aaa ** Season 5 List of episodes '''Season 1 (2017–18) 'Season 2 (2019)' 'Special (2019)' 'Season 3 (2020)' Production 'Development' Development of the series began in 2014 by Colby Dorris who then offered the show to ABC, Fox and NBC who all passed on the show in a two year time span. When Dorris finally decided to offer the series to ETV in mid-2016, they agreed to air the series with a pilot order. After casting Harry Nieves as the sole and lead regular cast member, ETV ordered a 10-episode first season. 'Casting' In 2016, ETV announced that Harry Nieves was cast as the sole and lead series regular-narrator, portraying Eli Breasley. Months later, it was reported that Liliana Foust, Richie Loftin, Greg Sorell and Louise Martens would respectively portray Rachel, Jerrod, Bruce and Theresa in a recurring role.aaaa In an interview with TVLine, Nieves stated, "I personally decided that [The Death Story] would only have a core cast with Nieves' character as the story is just about Eli, not any other characters. Basically, when his story ends, all the other characters just become irrelevant and as is only Nieves will be credited as a series regular; at least just for now."a After the low-performing pilot which saw just 820,000 viewers watch,a ETV announced that Liliana Foust and Richie Loftin would join the cast.aa The network justified its decision, "When the first episode of a show does not even achieve one million viewers, it's a clear sign that something went wrong. If it was having just one cast member, which we see as a mutual complaint by many, then we hope to right the wrong."a Justifying ETV's decision, Dorris stated, "We had been expecting more viewers given the buzz, but I am not disappointed at ETV's decision as it wouldn't have been ideal to go on like that. But, I stand by my word from my interview as Nieves is credited as a main, whilst the rest are credited as starring."a Reception 'Ratings' 'Critical response' See also * List of original programs broadcast by ETV